r/todayilearned • u/Sebastianlim • 17h ago

TIL that in 2018, a 14-year-old girl named Cindy Redmond had an air horn blasted into her ear by her friend's stepfather after she wouldn't get off her phone. This caused her to develop hyperacusis, a rare hearing disorder which makes any small noise cause her immense pain.

people.com

29.9k Upvotes

1.1k comments

r/todayilearned • u/Zaptagious • 21h ago

TIL the robber Jeffrey "Roofman" Manchester who evaded custody by living inside stores, left a single fingerprint in his secret living quarters: A DVD of "Catch Me If You Can".

en.wikipedia.org

9.7k Upvotes

226 comments

r/todayilearned • u/andmario_com • 23h ago

TIL after 146 workers died in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, the factory owners were acquitted of manslaughter and collected insurance worth $445 per victim — $64,925 more than their losses. Victims' families got $75 each. In 1913 owner Max Blanck was caught locking the doors again and fined $20.

en.wikipedia.org

8.7k Upvotes

181 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 • 2h ago

TIL one of the most popular actors in China is Mark Rowswell (stage name: Dashan), a Canadian comedian. He is often considered the most famous foreigner in the country. He is largely unknown in North America.

en.wikipedia.org

5.5k Upvotes

310 comments

r/todayilearned • u/jamieseemsamused • 5h ago

TIL Helium was first detected in the Sun from an unknown spectral line during a solar eclipse, years before any Helium was discovered on Earth. It was named after Helios, Greek god of the Sun.

en.wikipedia.org

3.2k Upvotes

21 comments

r/todayilearned • u/YappinZappin • 21h ago

TIL ninjas were not uniformed and wore whatever attire was suitable for their mission - black outfits trope came from Kabuki stagehands wearing black, so that viewers would know to ignore them and accept their actions as if carried out by someone totally invisible

en.wikipedia.org

2.6k Upvotes

73 comments

r/todayilearned • u/johntwit • 19h ago

TIL that Rose Wilder Lane, the daughter of Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder, was an early Libertarian and is considered one of the three "founding mothers of the American libertarian movement" along with Isabel Paterson and Ayn Rand

en.wikipedia.org

2.5k Upvotes

499 comments

r/todayilearned • u/UndyingCorn • 8h ago

TIL Because radio coverage was banned at the 1939 Academy awards, George Fischer from LA’s KHJ radio station locked himself in a booth and was able to broadcast for about 12 minutes before security guards broke down the door. Partial radio coverage was restored for the 1942 ceremony.

en.wikipedia.org

2.4k Upvotes

33 comments

r/todayilearned • u/loloreel • 3h ago

TIL that dice are 12,000 years old, they are older than the invention of the wheel (5,000 years old). Modern looking, 6 faced dice are around 2,600 years old

libarts.source.colostate.edu

1.7k Upvotes

93 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Gnomeslikeprofit • 19h ago

TIL that traffic lights are called "robots" in South Africa and other African countries. Directions can be given such as "Turn right at the 2nd robot".

drivesouthafrica.com

1.2k Upvotes

139 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Parking_Spot • 3h ago

TIL That Bob Marley gave songwriting credits for No Woman, No Cry to his friend Vincent Ford so that royalties from the hit song would support Ford's Kingston, Jamaica soup kitchen.

en.wikipedia.org

1.2k Upvotes

17 comments

r/todayilearned • u/its-a-Luigi-time • 20h ago

TIL that Carl Sagan was an occasional user of cannabis, and wrote an essay under the pseudonym ‘Mr. X’ to try and help dispel common myths about the effects of cannabis.

organism.earth

1.2k Upvotes

44 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Redd1928 • 16h ago

TIL about the Great Hedge of India (or Indian Salt Hedge), which was a customs barrier built by the British colonial rulers of India to prevent smuggling of salt from coastal regions.

en.wikipedia.org

1.0k Upvotes

41 comments

r/todayilearned • u/FullOfSound • 20h ago

TIL hand grip strength (HGS) is a premier biomarker. HGS is known to be connected to mortality, longevity, neuromuscular, cognitive and chronic disease.

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

972 Upvotes

110 comments

r/todayilearned • u/IgnoreTh1sName • 20h ago

TIL there is a theoretical type of matter called "Strange Matter" that contains particles known as Strange Quarks. It can only exist in states of extremely high energy and pressure and is thought to be "contagious", meaning normal matter that comes into contact will convert into more Strange Matter.

en.wikipedia.org

842 Upvotes

130 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Coverlesss • 2h ago

TIL about the Münchhausen trilemma - The philosophical argument that all attempts to prove something true eventually rely on circular logic, endless regress, or an unsupported assumption.

en.wikipedia.org

837 Upvotes

241 comments

r/todayilearned • u/fotogneric • 3h ago

TIL that English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748 - 1832) coined the words "international," "maximize," "minimize," "codify", "marginalize," "bicameral," and many others.

ucl.ac.uk

815 Upvotes

77 comments

r/todayilearned • u/PeasantLich • 23h ago

TIL that despite often being portrayed as near apocalyptic event in media, evidence shows that only a fraction of Pompeii's population died in the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius. Majority of city's 30000 inhabitants probably fled in time and survived.

pbs.org

807 Upvotes

76 comments

r/todayilearned • u/AevnNoram • 23h ago

TIL Alexander the Great had a son, Alexander Aegus, born 3 months after Alexander died. Aegus was assassinated at age 14

en.wikipedia.org

787 Upvotes

36 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Electronic_Cause_796 • 6h ago

TIL leopards have the most varied diet of any big cat, with over 100 recorded prey species. They're also the only big cats known to regularly store their kills in trees, hauling prey up to 140% of their own body weight high into the branches to keep it from scavengers.

pbs.org

702 Upvotes

14 comments

r/todayilearned • u/gonejahman • 20h ago

TIL the Capital Records building in Los Angeles is the first circular office building in the world.

en.wikipedia.org

506 Upvotes

46 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sweet_Foundation_868 • 21h ago

TIL about Chad Rowan, a Hawaiian born sumo wrestler. He was the first non-Japanese wrestler to achieve yokozuna, the highest rank in sumo. As a yokozuna, Rowan also won 8 more championships, and was a runner up 13 times.

en.wikipedia.org

432 Upvotes

57 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Mors_Acerba • 8h ago

TIL Elizabethan era theater was directly influenced by the then recent re-discovery of the roman era tragedies written by stoic philosopher Seneca. Despite that, Seneca's tragedies later felt into disrepute again because of their strong horror elements, especially the grotesque displays of violence

en.wikipedia.org

409 Upvotes

28 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sweet_Foundation_868 • 1h ago

TIL that Mark Cuban purchased the town of Mustang, Texas for 2 million dollars.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

38 comments

r/todayilearned • u/jacknunn • 11h ago

TIL cheetahs once roamed much of Africa and Eurasia. As well as Africa, they still exist in the wild in the Middle East

nationalzoo.si.edu

146 Upvotes

19 comments

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